Somehow December always creeps up on me, somehow I get surprised that Christmas comes right after all the festivity at Thanksgiving. This Year I hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner, so my Christmas preparations was somewhat delayed.
I do intend to post 12 christmasy posts, for the 12 Days of Christmas. It will be a mix of food, sweets, cakes and cookies. So please stay tuned.
I start with a re-post of a hot mulled cider, mostly because I'm down with a cold, and the best thing to drink are warm drinks. And I really love hot mulled cider.
I have never had it in Denmark, but it should be a Christmas stable as the mulled wine is.
Hot mulled cider, this lovely drink was all new to me 6 years ago. I thought that mulled wine aka glögg/gløgg/glühwein was a German/scandinavian thing. And adding warm spices to a non-alcholic drink, that was new to me, I'm sad to say. 😳
First time I had it was at a William-Sonoma store, and boy they got me hooked on that stuff. I love this when when winter approaches, and you need at hot strong drink to keep you warm.
It has become a tradition to make hot mulled cider when we are having ebelskiver the weeks up to christmas. And to bee honest, I have the cider simmering on my stove almost every day. This fills my house with the sweet smell of christmas and it makes me very happy.
Ingredients:
2 quarts good apple cider
1 orange, zest of half
2 sticks of cinnamon
5-10 whole cloves
5-10 whole allspice berries
1-2 star anis
3 green cardamom capsules
You could also buy a mulling spice mix, but I prefer mixing my own.
Directions:
Put all the ingredients in a large saucepan and heat the cider to a simmer. Turn down the heat, and let the spices steep in the cider for 5-10 minutes. Reheat the cider. Pour the cider through a sift into cups and serve immediately.
The Danish Version:
Varm Krydret Cider
Ingredienser:
2 liter god æblecider
½ appelsin, skallen fra
2 kanelstænger
5-10 hele nelliker
5-10 hele allehånde
1-2 stjerneanis
3 grønne kardemomme
Fremgangsmåde:
Kom alle ingredienserne i en gryde og varm det op til kogepunktet. Skru ned for varmen og lad krydderierne trække i cideren i 5-10 minutter. Varm cideren op og si krydderierne fra. Server cideren med det samme.